


Kaiju Academia

by WrestleCrazyGamer



Category: Godzilla - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, No specific continuity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-05-20 19:32:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19383295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WrestleCrazyGamer/pseuds/WrestleCrazyGamer
Summary: *Inspired by the idea of MHA x Godzilla crossover, but I chose to write this instead of doing the rigmarole of sorting who is what*Negita Miyamoto was a middle school student who'd accepted that he's fully human from childhood. That all changed the day someone in a mask forcibly bound the Gojira Gene to his body, nearly killing him. Taken in by the one and only Gojira Ranger, the current only bearer of the G-Gene, he now has to train to not only control the G-Gene within him but to become a Gojira Ranger like his master.





	1. Starting Point

_ Our world changed the day that the Kaiju appeared to defend Earth from invaders in space. At the lead of them was Gojira, King of the Monsters. Humanity refused to remain helpless, letting the Kaiju fight on their own. So they found a way to harness their DNA and transform people into K-Rangers. The K-Rangers’ mission is to fight anything that is too small-scale for the Kaiju to be bothered with. The Star Empire has continued trying to take over or destroy Earth for 2,000 years now, without any success.  _

_ The K-Rangers are still mostly human though, and grow old while the Kaiju seem ageless. So they selectively choose partners to have children with, passing the Kaiju Gene on to them. That being said, the government occasionally chooses children to receive a Kaiju Gene at birth to develop Kaiju Traits, shortened to K-Traits on forms and stuff, in order to expand the pool. There are the occasional Late Picks too, if there’s ever an emergency. Of course, there hasn’t been a Late Pick Draft since the battle with King Megaghora - the empire’s attempt at a red five-headed King Ghidorah. The savior of that incident wasn’t just Gojira the Kaiju, but also Gojira the K-Ranger. Of all the previous Gojira’s, she was the only one able to Kaijutize 90% of her body. She used it to great effect getting as many people out of the battle zone as possible. Gojira then let out a earth-shaking roar that’d make the big guy proud letting him know he could go all out. I wish I could be like her, but… well, I wasn’t chosen for a K-Gene. _

“Negi… Negi…” a middle school girl with long black hair whispered to a boy with flat brown hair, who was spacing out.

“...”

“Negi… the teacher’s staring at you…” she whispered, still trying to get his attention.

“Negita Miyamoto, please return to this solar system. I refuse to be scolded for letting students doze off again.” the teacher sighed, pinching the bridge between her eyes.

“I’ve got ya, teach.” a boy with golden hair snickered as two Ghidora heads grew from his right and left shoulders, which proceeded to spit a spark at Negi shocking him subsequently causing him to fall from his seat.

“Akito Dojima, no Kaiju Powers in class.” she scowled.

“Negi, are you okay!?” the girl cried as he spat out smoke.

“The weather report said it’d be sunny today…” he groaned.

“You never know when a thunderstorm is around the corner, space cadet.” Akito scoffed, making his Ghidorah heads hiss with delight.

“Dojima, dismiss them this instant.” the teacher scolded him.

“Sorry teach, just helping keep order.” he shrugged with a smug grin, the heads retracting before vanishing entirely.

“The only order you keep is chaos.” the girl huffed.

“Got somethin’ to say, No-Gene?” Akito asked.

“Yeah. Just because you have a K-Gene doesn’t mean you get to abuse its powers.” she replied.

“It’s fine, Yuki. It was just a spark. It’s not like he electrocuted me, right?” Negi chuckled nervously.

“Space cadet gets it.” Akito snickered.

After school was over, Negi and Yuki started walking home together as usual. The two of them had been friends since childhood. Yuki’s father is a current Anguirus K-Ranger, though she failed to inherit his K-Gene while her baby brother was successful. The two bonded over their mutual respect for Gojira, both the Kaiju and ranger. The fact that she’s the one and only Gojira ranger, since her father passed away recently, only seemed to magnify her influence. The G-Gene was extremely picky about who was a worthy host, killing anyone not worthy.

“Can’t believe that Akito… he abuses his power at the drop of a hat.” Yuki huffed.

“Well, I don’t know his background so I can’t peg him well. For all we know he might have trouble at home.” Negi chuckled nervously.

“Trouble at home, huh? How nice of you not to judge based on my appearance.” the devil’s voice piped up behind them.

The two turned around in time for Negi to receive a headbutt from a Ghidorah head bloodying his nose. Yuki tried to say something and a head rammed her gut sinking her to her knees unable to speak from the pain. The smug grin on Akito’s face was only highlighted by his glowing golden eyes.

“You think you’ve got some moral high ground not calling me names behind my back? Huh? You think you’re better for not assuming my character?” he asked as one Ghidorah head lifted Negi by his jacket collar.

“I was raised that way…” he groaned, trying to stop his nose from bleeding.

“That’s the excuse they all use… every damn one, not respecting the fact I’m going to have to fight those aliens one day...” he snarled.

“I’m going to ask you to politely put that young man down, please.”

“The hell do you think you are, space cadet?!” Akito roared, ignoring the voice entirely.

“It wasn’t a request.”

Akito’s eyes went wide as he screamed in pain. Someone had a very harsh two-hand grip of the head holding Negi up. The person then ripped the head in two making Akito scream louder almost losing consciousness as he staggered backward falling on his rear. Negi’s eyes went wide looking at his savior. He knew that deep green hair, he recognized those glistening orange-red eyes, and the tail wagging behind her was distinctive. She was even dressed in black boots and a sleeveless black jumpsuit bearing “E-Force” on the chest and upper back. It was K-Ranger Gojira!

“Listen up. Your Kaiju Powers aren’t meant to be used to bully other people. Our job is to protect, not abuse. Consider today your one and only warning to change your ways, young man.” Gojira smiled, staring specifically at Akito who was still writhing on the ground in pain.

“Gojira…” Yuki managed to get out.

“Are you alright, young man?” Gojira asked, pulling a handkerchief from her back pocket to begin cleaning Negi’s face.

“I-I’m fine… I don’t think it’s broken...” Negi replied, starstruck to be in her presence.

“Wonderful! Now listen carefully, I want you to keep that severed head. Think of it as payback for everything this young man just did to you and your friend.” Gojira beamed, patting his shoulder once she finished cleaning him.

“Y-You… you pulled... the head off…” Akito growled through his tears.

“You’ll have regenerated a new head by morning. I think it’s an acceptable punishment, since you’re so fond of making your heads do the dirty work. People owe someone who demands respect  _ before _ performing their job nothing. Remember that the next time you demand respect.” Gojira told him without losing her smile.

“W-What brings you all the way out here…?” Negi asked her.

“You didn’t think that bad behavior by future rangers goes unchecked, did you? They’re out of police jurisdiction, so they send rangers like me to straighten them out.” Gojira answered.

That whole night both Negi and Yuki were on cloud nine. Not only did they get to meet their hero, but she put a bully in their place too. Negi wasn’t sure how he felt keeping the severed head as a prize, but Gojira did tell him that it was okay and served Akito right. The next day he saw a total change in Akito. He didn’t say a word to anyone, despite looking 100% more grumpy than usual. Whenever Akito was in this mood his Ghidorah heads were out in a low position mimicking his posture. This is the only instance in which teachers never got onto him for having the heads out, as he can’t dismiss them when emotional for some reason. Every Ghidorah Ranger has this same problem.

Akito didn’t say a word about him being “superior” or a “future ranger” even once that day either. Negi tried to approach him several times that day, but just couldn’t get to him before class started. After School Negi decided that he’d approach him if it was the last thing he did.

“Dojima, wait up.” Negi spoke as he hurried to catch up to him.

“What do you want, space cadet?” he huffed, not stopping.

“I wanted to tell you that I forgive you for yesterday.” Negi replied making him stop.

“I bloodied your nose, hurt your friend, and you forgive me?” he questioned, looking over his shoulder.

“I stand by what I said. I don’t know your story.” Negi nodded.

“Whatever.” Akito shrugged, continuing to walk.

“I’d like to know your-” Negi spoke when someone put their hand over his mouth, yanking him into the nearby alley.

Whoever had him either really worked out or had a K-Gene, because no matter how he struggled they didn’t budge. His captor then thrust him onto the floor and mounted him keeping their hand over his mouth. He looked at the assailant and his eyes widened seeing a pure white mask with black eyes over their face - a mask of the Empire. The rest of their body was concealed in a black cloak. The assailant then pulled out a small glowing white crystal from their pocket along with a bloody blackish grey scale.

“Eat this and be quiet.” they ordered in a woman’s voice.

In one fluid motion the attacker moved her hand and forced the crystal and scale into Negi’s mouth. He tried to spit them out, but something strange happened. He’d lost control of his body and swallowed involuntarily. His body suddenly felt 100 times heavier and his heartbeat was pounding in his ears. All sound began to muffle as if he were underwater.

“Get off of him!” Akito’s voice, albeit muffled, roared as electric lasers blasted the assailant making her leap off Negi and quickly ascend the alley walls to escape.

Akito was saying something to Negi, but all sound had begun to muffle into nothing but white noise. His vision slowly but surely went black. When he opened his eyes he was floating in a purple void of some kind.

“ _ Am I dead…? _ ” he thought, tiredly looking around.

“ **That will depend on how you answer my questions.** ” a deep voice spoke as two fiery red eyes opened before him shedding their light upon him.

“ _ Questions…? _ ”

“ **How did you come to possess my genetics?** ”

“ _ I don’t know… _ ”

“ **Did you desire to obtain my power?** ”

“ _ I accepted that I was human from childhood… that I’ll never be a Ranger… so no. _ ”

“ **For what purpose does the being ‘Gojira’ exist, as far as you humans are concerned?** ”

“ _ You fight the empire… but beyond that don’t interact much with humans… so I would say you only defend us because we happen to be their target… _ ”

“ **Why do you think I accepted that woman and her lineage as my sole line of rangers?** ”

“ _ They understood why you protect the Earth? _ ”

“ **So it should stand to reason that you do not understand. You are a mere bystander. You are not worthy of my power.** ”

“Hold on, big guy. I’ll take responsibility for him.” Gojira’s voice echoed through the odd dimension.

“ **Oh? So it is only now that you care if another tries to take my power?** ”

“This young man was attacked by a member of the Star Empire. Even if we wanted to we couldn’t separate your genes from him: they used a Fusion Crystal to force it to take root. So it’s either you hit the kill switch or I take him under my wing.”

“ **How unlike you. What makes you care so much about him?** ”

“The fact that it was one of my shed scales they used. I also saw this young man yesterday when I disciplined a future ranger. I’m going to take responsibility, so grant him full access.”

“ **I can’t reverse the decision if he winds up a bad seed. It will be your job to deal with that road, should it come.** ”

Negi weakly opened his eyes finding himself in a hospital. The doctors and nurses around him were wearing hazmat suits for some reason. When the doctor noticed him he let out a sigh of relief.

“He’s awake. Get Gojira-san.” the doctor ordered.

“Sir, his radioactivity levels are dropping rapidly. I think the K-Gene has stabilized.” a second nurse alerted the doctor.

“Wonderful.” Gojira spoke as she entered the patient room.

“Gojira-san, what did you do to help him? You said you had a trick up your sleeve.” the doctor asked her.

“I had a talk with the big guy. I’m taking this young man under my tail as my apprentice.” Gojira explained with a beaming smile.

“Apprentice…?” Negi questioned, still trying to grasp what was going on.

“Well you certainly can’t go untrained looking like that.” Gojira laughed, holding up a mirror revealing that Negi’s hair had turned the same shade of green as hers and his eyes had turned a glowing orange.

“What?!” he gasped sitting up, quickly taking the mirror from her to be sure he wasn’t dreaming.

“You aren’t fully human anymore, young man. From today on you’re my pupil, circumstances aside. I’ll make you into the perfect example of what a ranger trainee should be. I’ve already contacted your parents oversees and they think it’s a great idea to help build character.” Gojira beamed.

_ That day my entire life flipped upside down… and I was 100% unprepared for it. _


	2. Gojira's Pupil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Negi begins his training under Gojira-san.

It was a chilly morning at two in the morning. Negi had only been out of the hospital for a day, and Gojira was already beginning to train him. Their goal this morning was a 5k jog, what Gojira called “a light warmup”. Negi could barely breathe after half of 1k. Gojira herself wasn’t even breathing hard yet.

“You don’t work out much, huh? Don’t worry, you’ll get there.” Gojira laughed.

“Why… just a few hours... before school…?” Negi asked, trying to gather his breath.

“During the day I’m busy at K-Ranger Academy. Morning is really the only time I have free. Don’t worry though. I’ll work you so hard that the entrance exam will be a piece of cake.” she answered.

_ After learning of my “circumstances”, the school locked me in to head for KRA - the most prestigious Kaiju Ranger training school in the world. The entrance exam is notorious for turning away 95% of all applicants. Some say that it’s brutal, and others say that it’s blatant favoritism toward those with known potential. Gojira wants me there because she teaches K-Gene Mutation Class, so she’d be able to keep a close eye on me. Yuki was worried sick when she found out about what happened. _

“Hey… how come Big Gojira doesn’t like others having his genes?” Negi asked her.

“People kept abusing it. It made it very hard for him to trust people at their word. The government kept it under wraps, but a few of those aliens were actually people who’d abused the gene so much it went out of control turning them into monsters in their own right. I meant it when I told that young man to be mindful of how he uses his K-Gene. We must always remember that these genes are not ours, that they came from the Kaiju. They only bond as long as the Kaiju want them to.” Gojira explained.

“Gojira… san… there’s… something on your back…” Negi choked out, shakily pointing to her back.

Gojira looked over her shoulder and there was indeed a large brown sack of some kind hanging off her back. With a laugh she plucked it off revealing it was in fact a pale-skinned girl wearing a very large winter coat that hid all features of her body. She looked very sleepy as Gojira set her on her feet.

“Mothra-chan, when did you return to Japan? You should have sent word, I would have dropped by the island.” Gojira laughed.

“I… didn’t have time… wanted to see your… pupil…” she spoke slowly, fighting sleep.

“That’s Mothra-san?!” he gasped.

“Surprised? Due to the M-Gene Mothra-chan is weak to the cold, retaking a larval shape in the form of a thick jacket to retain warmth. She’ll shed her coat once the sun is out warming things up a bit and you’ll see the Mothra everyone is used to.” Gojira beamed.

“I wasn’t expecting her to be so short…” Negi stated.

“She’s actually curled up into a ball inside that coat, making her appear shorter than she really is. Normally she comes up to my shoulders.” Gojira nodded.

“ _ How does she move like that…? _ ”

“Well, enough standing around. Let’s continue on our 5k!” Gojira laughed.

“I’ll die before even getting to 1k!” Negi cried.

“Maybe not with that attitude, you Negative Nancy. It’s about the goal and the work you put in!” Gojira beamed, yanking him along.

“Go for it…” Mothra cheered tiredly.

Negi was sore for the entire school day. Gojira didn’t let him stop until they hit 2.5k. He couldn’t help it and feel asleep mid-lecture. Unlike before, for some reason, the teacher didn’t scold him when Yuki managed to wake him up. At lunch he spent a little of his allowance to get some extra food from the cafeteria, eating nearly three times the amount of food he usually does.

“I don’t know what’s come over my appetite… I still feel like I could eat a tiny bit more.” Negi sighed.

“Maybe because you have a gene now your body needs more calories to function properly?” Yuki theorized.

“Space cadet.” Akito called to him, approaching from the roof door.

“Akito-san?” Negi addressed him with a look of confusion.

“Educate yourself.” he ordered, dropping a book into Negi’s lap before leaving as quick as he’d come.

“K-Genes & You: A Guide To Kaiju Characteristics?” Yuki questioned, reading the cover.

“It was written by Gojira-san!” Negi gasped, looking at it.

“It’s unusual for Akito to care about others…” Yuki stated, looking suspicious.

“Oh! Gojira-san says right here that all Kaiju Genes regardless of their origin cause increased nutrition requirements in their host!” Negi exclaimed, already reading it.

“How can you not hate that Akito? He’s been your bully since grade school.” Yuki questioned him.

“I don’t know his story. He’s also the one who fought off my attacker and called for the ambulance.” Negi smiled.

“You’re too nice for your own good…” Yuki sighed.

Despite the pain Negi was in from his workout he continued to study the book that Akito lent him. A lot of the things written within made the changes to his body make more sense. One such change being that it’s common for K-Gene Bearers to Kaijutize parts of their body in their sleep. For the Gojira Gene she stated that she, and by proxy Negi, has no need for medical attention as her natural genetic makeup begins regenerating almost instantaneously after receiving an injury. He began adjusting how he goes about his meals in what Gojira suggested was healthy for a Gene Bearer.

The next few mornings his jogs with Gojira were slightly easier than normal. At least he could reliably make it to 1k out of 5 before being too worn out to continue. Two weeks in she began mixing in lessons on how to harness radiation energy within himself to stimulate his breathing, using a steam engine as a visual aid. At five weeks he could make 2k, if he pushed himself. The entire time Gojira still wasn’t breathing hard in the slightest.

“You’re doing great with the jog, but can you pull out any traits yet?” Gojira asked him one morning.

“Like a tail or spines?” he tilted his head.

“Exactly. Your spines will allow you to use your atomic ray without hurting yourself and your tail has a variety of uses.” she nodded.

“The ray hurts me if I use it without my spines?” he questioned.

“You’re reading my book aren’t you?” she laughed.

“I haven’t gotten that far. I’m only just on genetic resistances.” he told her.

“The spines are very important. Remember, we aren’t like the big guy who can fire at any charge level. The human body isn’t really meant to handle concentrated radiation, so the spines take all the strain of the excess radiation off of us. Otherwise the radiation lingers and can damage your body, the organs and esophagus in particular. Yeah you’ll heal in a short while, but continued use could become very hazardous to your health. Think of yourself like a nuclear reactor. What happens if you overload or worse damage yourself?” she explained.

“Meltdown?” he replied.

“Bingo. So don’t cause yourself to meltdown.” she nodded, patting his shoulder.

“Got it.” he nodded.

“So to pull out your traits, the best way it can be done with your situation is to will it to happen. Normally it comes as natural as breathing, but you’re a special case. So start trying to will your tail and spines into existence after today. Consider it homework.” Gojira explained.

For the next week or so Negi continued trying to make them come out, to no avail. The only thing he accomplished is making himself fart from trying too hard. Gojira tried giving him pointers, but none of them seemed to work. In the four weeks he kept trying to do that, he managed to gain the stamina to reliably do 3.5k out of their 5k goal. She could at least praise his progress in that aspect.

When he could finally jog 5k on a reliable basis, Gojira gave him an encouraging pat on the back. She then explained the reason why she had him reach a 5k goal - because he’ll need to be on the move consistently as during an attack, going where he’s needed as quickly as possible. The breathing exercise he learned wasn’t just stimulating breathing, but actually promoting his organs to become accustomed to his cells’ natural radioactivity as well. The more he used the exercise and trained using it the more used to it his body became allowing his growth to flourish. Their next 5k saw them stop at an abandoned harbor on the east side of the city.

“Now that you’ve got the first part of the workout down, it’s time to get part two in here.” Gojira smiled.

“Part two?” he questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Muscle building. What better way to work the entire body at once than to retrieve sunken items from the seafloor?” Gojira grinned, pointing to the ocean behind her.

“I-I can’t swim!” he told her, stepping back.

“Yes you can. You’ve got the G-Gene! Trust me, once you’re in the water just let your instincts take over. We can breathe underwater too in case you’re wondering. The radiation that’ll come off your body when submerged serves as a wildlife barrier too, so you can’t use the ‘I’m afraid of sharks’ excuse either.” Gojira laughed heartily.

“What about hypothermia and depth pressure?” he asked her.

“The G-Gene is your all-purpose marine survival tool, Miyamoto. It’ll keep you nice and hot while at the same time protects your body from being crushed by the ocean’s water pressure. You’ll even gain night vision once you’re deep enough.” Gojira explained.

“I’m not getting out of this am I…?” he sighed in defeat.

“Nope! Look on the bright side, you aren’t going through anything that my old man didn’t put me through when I was growing up!” she laughed.

“Wait, can I go that deep without a tail?” Negi asked, cutting her laughter immediately.

“That will make things significantly harder to be sure… okay, we’ll have to try some of the tricks for late bloomers to get your tail out at the very least.” Gojira stated.

Gojira then performed a series of odd techniques on Negi, but none seemed to trigger his tail coming out. Even the excitement trick where she flash her chest didn’t work, though it succeeded in making him roar like the big guy for a half-second when he gasped. Every trick short of the needle prod, which was ruled unsafe and child cruelty, seemed to fail. While thinking, Gojira’s tail began lifting and dropping, similar to tapping your fingers, as she paced trying to think of a way to coax his tail into coming out. Her train of thought got interrupted by Negi shouting in pain. In her pacing she failed to notice where her tail was landing, and it’d just come down on Negi’s foot. Gojira then noticed something wiggling behind Negi as he checked to see if his foot was okay.

“Ah… your tail!” Gojira exclaimed.

“Huh?” Negi questioned, looking at his posterior to see the Gojira tail moving according to his emotions.

“Did it come out on its own or did my tail hitting your foot make it come out…?” Gojira pondered as she stared at his tail.

“I don’t know…” he groaned, still rubbing his foot.

“We’ll call it here for today. I’d feel bad making you swim after hurting your foot. Your homework is to practice putting away and pulling out your tail.” Gojira smiled apologetically.

“Hey… why does our tail line up with our spine?” Negi asked her.

“That’s the Gojira part of the G-Gene taking effect. Be mindful of your tail while it’s out. You could either hurt it or hurt someone else. There’s a lot of thick muscles in it.” Gojira warned him.

Negi had a new problem that day: he couldn’t put his tail away no matter how he tried. More than a few times he forgot about it, closing a door on his tail. He’d accidentally tripped a few students too, prompting many apologies. Luckily everyone knew Negi well enough to know he was definitely not doing it on purpose. Many of them wished him luck in mastering the G-Gene.

The next few mornings Negi got to experience swimming underwater. It was surreal being able to dive so deep despite barely knowing how to dog paddle for most of his life. The swim Gojira showed him was very effective too. The ocean depths appeared to be black and white to him thanks to his night vision. It was just as if he were back on the surface, just without color. At the sea floor there was all kinds of junk lying around, from sunken ships to bobbles. 

“Don’t try too hard at the start. Work your way up to the big stuff. We still have plenty of time for you to build up muscle.” Gojira told him, before promptly showing off by lifting a sunken boat and carrying it back up to the surface on her own.

Negi tried for a while, but just couldn’t seem to get anything larger than a milk jug to dislodge from the sandy floor. Gojira couldn’t help laughing a bit, seeing his struggle. Negi jumped when the earth itself seemed to shake.

“What was that?!” he gasped.

“Chill out. The big guy just came to observe, that’s all.” Gojira smiled, pointing behind her where Negi could just barely make out the shape of Big G swimming toward them.

Negi felt slightly more embarrassed to fail at lifting much that day thanks to the extra audience. After that day was when Negi noticed something change. Compared to moving on the seafloor, moving on the surface was much easier. He found himself getting much faster and stronger on the surface - breaking more than a few mugs by accident in the process. The training kept up, and slowly he began to be able to lift things slightly bigger than himself from the ocean. It wasn’t long before there was only two weeks before the exam. The middle school graduation had already come and gone before he knew it. Gojira told him that in the final week they would only be practicing one thing.

“There’s a crucial thing you need to be able to do as a ranger.” Gojira told him.

“What’s that?” he tilted his head.

“Signal. We have to let the big guys know when all civilians have been evacuated. For Gojira, the signal is the iconic roar. You’ve gotta be loud and clear for the big guy to hear you during a fight.” Gojira beamed.

“The roar… I’m going to learn the roar…?” Negi gasped with excitement.

“Of course. You’ll know you nailed the roar if you shatter the ground around you. Allow me to demonstrate.” Gojira nodded, turning to the ocean.

Gojira then belted out an intense roar that made a crater in the sand beneath her as her roar made huge waves in the ocean water. It was so loud up close that Negi went deaf for a moment. He was supposed to imitate that roar?

“The trick to the roar is thinking about what you need to do. Why are you here? Why do you use the K-Gene inside you? What does this world mean to you? All of these things fuel the power of your roar.” Gojira smiled warmly.

Understandably, Negi couldn’t recreate the roar that morning. He could barely get half of the sound right. It took him a full week just to get that right. After that, just no matter how he tried he couldn’t get the volume or strength to make the ocean move even a little. The date of the exam had come...


	3. To Be Gojira

Negi was extremely nervous entering the campus of Kaiju Ranger Academy, KRA, that morning. He still hadn’t gotten his spines to come out, but at least he’d figured out how to subconsciously make his tail curve up so it isn’t dragging on the floor waiting to get stepped on. At Gojira’s suggestion he wore athletic shoes and a blue tracksuit. Due to her position she couldn’t tell him what the test categories were though. All he knew was that he needed to report to Auditorium D. Already inside were dozens of other candidates.

A spotlight coming on made him jump. He was not prepared to suddenly have his position exposed to the entirety of his potential classmates. Standing on the stage was a man dressed in a suit with small drill-like spikes coming out of his knuckles. Negi could tell immediately that it was Megalon, K-Ranger to the Kaiju of the same name! He is well known for catching people in the act of illegally dumping waste into the ocean, and promptly punishing them!

“Everyone, take a nice long look at Mr. Negita Miyamoto! Gojira-san’s one and only pupil! Odds are he’ll be taking first place in our exam - you know how Gojira can be! Are you going to let that happen?!” Megalon spoke, prompting a vicious return from the crowd.

“ _ What?! What does he mean?! It’s a formality for me isn’t it?! Did he have to get everyone riled up like that?! I’m not used to feeling so much hostility from so many people! It’s like Akito multiplied to the umpteenth power! _ ”

“Stop panicking and sit down already, Space Cadet.” Akito’s voice dragged him from his thoughts, alerting Negi to the man himself sitting right there by him.

Negi was too afraid to open his mouth so he obeyed without question. Megalon then began to explain that they would be separated via lottery. The test itself would be conducted using four categories: Speed, Adaptation, Crisis, and Signal. Speed was simple enough, get through the obstacle course as fast as possible. Adaptation would be by-candidate and completely random, as is the point of its name. Crisis was described as a random “enemy” will enter the arena to see how candidates react. Last was Signal, which was simple enough - signal your Kaiju, only considered successful if you receive a response.

The lottery box that descended was immense, made of gold, and designed to be a Jet Jaguar was holding each end of a spinning box. The balls that came out of it each had an arena number on it which were then passed out till everyone had one. Negi and a few others then made their way to Arena A. Joining him was a male Rodan candidate, a female Baragon candidate, and a male Anguirus candidate. To his shock Gojira was there waiting with her arms crossed.

“Welcome to Arena A! Now listen up, candidates. I’m going to make one thing clear here and now… passing score for the first three categories is 90, meaning you need at least a minimum score of 270 to have a shot, so many of you aren’t going to make it.. I hope you didn’t think that the lottery balls were random… because the students who went to each arena were deliberately chosen. The obstacle course within these walls was tailored so that each of you can complete it if you think hard enough about your skills. Think fast and act faster, kids.” Gojira lectured them, flashing a sadistic grin.

 A buzzer went off and the arena doors opened. The inside of the arena looked like a warped city. The Rodan candidate took to the air as the Anguirus and Baragon candidates burrowed underground. That left Negi to navigate the city normally. Negi near immediately hit a roadblock with a wall of flames blocking his path. From what he could see this was the only path available to him.

“Think… think… abilities, my abilities…” Negi talked to himself, looking around.

Looking around, he spotted a door and found that it was unlocked. Using it he was able to find a control panel to turn off the flames. Moving on he came across a chasm with variously sized poles going across. Gojira could probably jump it, but he lacked that self-confidence. Taking to the poles he began flinging himself across, slowly but surely. About halfway across his fingers slipped causing him to fall down a few poles, nearly falling into the chasm below. Pulling himself up to grip the pole better, he heard the sound of rushing water below.

He defied his survival instincts and looked down to see a raging river at the bottom of the chasm. Where water was flowing there had to be a way out, at least in his mind. Looking closer, he could see the chasm eventually curved and began going the way he needed to go. That gave him an idea, since Godzilla is very skilled at aquatic traversal…

“God, I beg for your protection and guidance as I make a very poor life decision…” Negi whimpered before purposely letting go of the pole, dropping into the water below.

Meanwhile, in the second stretch of the course, the other three candidates were fighting off odd tentacle robots trying to grapple them while gun robots opened fire from above with laser guns. Jetpack robots were pursuing the Rodan candidate fiercely making it hard for him to outfly the onslaught. Burrowers were following the Baragon and Anguirus candidates through the tunnels they were making as well. It was nearly ten minutes before they finally managed to escape, getting to the third stretch - Crisis.

This section of the city looked simple enough, a straight shot through an avenue to the final area. Out of nowhere when they reached the first quarter, Megalon the Kaiju burst forth from the ground shaking the entire arena letting out his monstrous cry, about giving the candidates heart attacks. Megalon began to unleash havoc on the city making the candidates panickedly try to escape him while heading for the final area behind him. All of his attacks made the ground shake and the sky fill up with smoke making both flight and burrowing nonviable options for traversal. That drove it home what the Crisis portion is - dealing with a sudden empire attack! 

That also told them the importance of the Signal portion. They had to get past him in order to signal their Kaiju. To divide Megalon’s attention they each went different directions. The now falling apart city made traversal very rough on foot. Megalon wasn’t making it easy to move either, blasting his horn laser and launching fireballs in their general direction. The Baragon candidate used an explosion to cover a large distance by riding an airborne car. When it landed it flung her between Megalon’s legs crashing into a store window, wounding her left arm. Pulling herself out she made a desperate break for it while Megalon turned around to continue his attack.

Her heart about left her chest when the nearby river began making an odd noise, and then to her shock Negi leapt out of the water looking a bit roughed up. Both began running up the Signal Platform’s steps and saw four red panels with footprints on them indicating to stand there. Once they got there the Baragon candidate let out an ear-splitting roar causing the panel she stood on to turn green. Moments later the Kaiju himself burst from the ground, responding with his own roar. Baragon then leapt into battle with Megalon. That distraction allowed the Rodan and Anguirus candidates to make their way there and let out their roars calling Rodan and Anguirus in to aid Baragon.

“ _ You can do this, Negi… you gotta… formality or not, you gotta… just… roar! _ ”

Negi attempted to let out his best roar, but his panel didn’t turn green like the others. He kept trying, desperate to finally unleash the roar, but he just couldn’t get the volume he needed.

“ **Having trouble?** ”

“ _ I… have to roar… _ ”

“ **You are trying too hard. The roar will not come from willpower alone.** ”

“ _ I… I can’t… _ ”

“ **Not right now you can’t. Do not falter despite this failure. You will understand the way to unleash the signal roar at some point.** ”

“I can’t… signal him…” Negi grimaced, shedding a tear as he fell to his knees while a final siren went off.

“Crisis Averted. The Test Is Over. Return To The Auditorium.” a mechanical voice spoke across the arena.

Formality or not, Negi felt horrible that he failed to signal Godzilla. He couldn’t even look Gojira in the eye as he left the arena. She grabbed hold of his shoulder as he passed, making him flinch slightly.

“I taught you how to roar wrong on purpose.” she told him, making his eyes widen.

“Why…?” was all he could say, his heart sinking further.

“To teach you the most powerful element in using the big guy’s full power… anger that surpasses mere frustration. For you to hit the mark, you needed to learn what it’s like to be helpless in a critical situation. To know what it feels like to fail at the most important part of the job. Remember the feeling welling up in your heart, how it burns and rips you apart inside. Don’t ever forget that hundreds of thousands of people are counting on us to save them. I’ll understand if you hate me for this, but it’s necessary, I assure you.” Gojira lectured him with a dead serious look.

Negi was in low spirits all the way home. He felt miserable having failed to call out to Godzilla. He took a while in the shower that night, trying to clear his head.

“ **She did that so you do not have the same scar that made her into who she is today.** ”

“Big G?” he gasped, trying not to look up and get a face full of water.

“ **Allow me to tell you, she had a similar problem to yours. She could not perform the signal roar. Innocent people she could have saved died because she could not signal me. A child fan she had met that day at a convention died in her arms that same night. She blames herself for their death among countless others, and does not want you to suffer a similar trauma. It was that child’s light fading in her arms that triggered her first real roar.** ”

“So… she was protecting me, in her own way.” Negi stated, thinking on her words after the test.

“ **Remember her lesson well, so that her effort was not in vain. The current generation of Kaiju Rangers have scars that the public does not see, so that the masses can smile without fear. No matter who you fight, no matter how dire the situation, the King of the Monsters will never back down even if he is afraid or outmatched.** ”

“To protect everyone… I need to be able to signal you.” Negi nodded, finding some resolve within himself.

“ **To truly believe you can protect every last person is foolhardy, yet it would be nice if one could truly possess that kind of power. Continue with that line of thinking, and you shall become unstoppable.** ”

With two weeks between results being distributed, Gojira wouldn’t be available to train him. So Negi decided to continue his training on his own instead of sitting at home. He began making regular dives to the bottom of the ocean to salvage sunken objects and would jog a 5k after. His efforts didn’t go unnoticed by cleanup companies, who decided to help him with removing the salvaged objects and ships from the beach he was diving at. It even caught the attention of retired Megalon K-Ranger Angelo Karloff, who began salvaging the sunken ships in the neighboring harbor.

By the time the two weeks were up, Negi had become well known in the shopping district for his help to clean up the harbor. It’d become clean enough that some fishermen began setting up shop for a new fish market. The local housewives were praising Gojira for training him how to dive and salvage.

One morning after finishing his post-dive jog Negi ran into Gojira in the park, who was leaning against the fountain with a very happy grin. She took a good look at him, sizing up what two weeks of diving had done to him.

“Can you roar yet?” Gojira asked.

“When the time comes, I’ll be able to save everyone.” Negi replied, prompting her to give his shoulder a strong pat.

“Now that’s the response of a K-Ranger.” she beamed, a twinkle of pride in her eye.


	4. Class Is In Session

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Negi's first day at his new school.

It was finally the first day of classes at Kaiju Ranger Academy. Negi was finally able to put on his uniform for real this time. His pants appear to be typical black slacks, but are actually made of a very sturdy military-grade material. The white button-up shirt is woven using a special microfiber that can stop the sharpest of knives from piercing it in conjunction with soft cotton. His blazer would definitely stand out from other high schoolers, as it’s made using hyper reinforced kevlar giving it a distinct military look compared to regular blazers, sporting red and white colors to symbolize Negi’s home country. Gojira explained that all of the students’ blazers are customized this way, to help a little with identification as there are students from the world over in attendance.

The bus ride to campus was a bit awkward, as he’d never ridden the Titan Bus before. Unlike regular buses, the Titan Buses are designed with accommodations for K-Gene Bearers. The trip was even more awkward in that KRA is the very last stop on his particular bus route, so for a while he was the only passenger onboard. The ocean somehow looked more beautiful as the bus crossed the off-shore bridge to the floating island the academy rested on. Once off the bus he got his first looks at the front gate in person. Before now he’d only seen it in magazine articles and documentaries. Access inside is very limited as well, so not much is known about its interior. He couldn’t help standing there to admire the gate a moment.

“You are Gojira-sama’s pupil. You exude a more frantic aura than I first anticipated. Troubling...” a soft voice spoke, nearly making Negi leave his skin.

He looked around but couldn’t see anyone around. Did he imagine it? He was very sure that someone had said something.

“On your shoulder.” the soft voice spoke again.

He robotically turned to look and came face to face with a tan-faced girl in a thick layer like Mothra, making him emit a very effeminate scream of terror. She dropped down from his shoulder revealing she had her uniform on over her coat.

“Aren’t you hot in that…?” Negi asked her.

“My K-Gene makes body heat an issue during colder weather, so the coat prevents me from entering a state of hibernation.” she replied.

“Do… both you and Mothra-san just… appear like that?” Negi asked.

“We move like anyone else. Most just fail to notice us.” she replied.

Both flinched when a loud bell tolled. In a panic Negi made for class 1-D, his assigned classroom. His class seemed normal enough, though he was shocked to find he only had five classmates. The Baragon candidate from the exam was there, so at least he recognized someone. The others were a Megalon boy with short spiky brown hair, an Ebirah girl with crimson hair held in pigtails and extra claw-bearing appendages extending from her shoulders, and a tall muscular male student whose arms bore jet black fur matching his long mane-like hair which had grey bangs. The fur-bearing student shot a glare out of the corner of his eye with such malice that Negi thought he was going to charge him.

The door flew open as the male student went to stand, making everyone in the room stop dead in their tracks. The bald man who entered the room was ripped from his head down to his feet. His skin was steely white with red decals, his eyes pure yellow, and a brilliantly poofy golden mustache sat upon his lip. He had no toes it seemed and despite not wearing pants there was nothing visible there but muscle. Above the belt he only wore a pitch black dress shirt and black coat & tie. He didn’t speak a word… and then flexed with such ferocity that his suit and tie literally exploded off of his bulging muscles.

“GOOD MORNING CLASS!!! I AM JET JAGUAR, YOUR HOMEROOM TEACHER!!! I SHALL ALSO FUNCTION AS YOUR GYM TEACHER, SO PLEASE REFER TO ME AS COACH JAGUAR!!!” the man roared in a mechanical voice with such intensity that it almost knocked them all over.

“Jet Jaguar…? You were there when Gojira-san fought with Mini Mecha Godzilla!” Negi gasped.

“Ah, a fan. Yes, I did indeed arrive on the scene when things became hairy for her in that battle, but twas she who unleashed Godzilla’s ultimate power to win the day.” he laughed heartily, still managing to flex his abs a little.

“He was retired from service that same year because of his ‘unique’ personality.” the muscular student huffed.

“Yes, well… on to roll. Shishio, Nagisa - Mothra Gene.” Coach Jaguar spoke, clearing his throat in the process.

“Accounted for.” a soft voice spoke almost giving Negi another heart attack, finding that the girl from earlier was clinging to his back again.

“I ask in the future that you do not cling so close to him.” Coach Jaguar requested.

“I apologize. I am attracted to heat sources in the colder months.” she replied, hopping effortlessly to the seat in front of Negi.

“Morrison, Ken - Megalon Gene.” Coach Jaguar called out.

“ _ Here. _ ” he replied in perfect English.

“Ferris, Kate - Ebirah Gene.”

“ _ Oui, Monsieur Jaguar. _ ” she winked,.

“Hermann, Elizabeth - Baragon Gene.”

“Present. I sorry if Japanese not yet good. German is first language.” she replied.

“Czarkoffski, Viktor - Kong Gene.”

“Here.” he replied in a voice as deep and vicious as Negi feared he possessed.

“Miyamoto, Negita - Gojira Gene.”

“P-Present, sir.” he nodded.

“Good, all accounted for. Today we’ll be focusing on one thing and one thing only… focusing on our current weaknesses. Self improvement is the perfect subject for today’s lesson.” Coach Jaguar nodded.

“ _ What if we don’t know our weaknesses? _ ” Kate asked him.

“The staff here knows your weaknesses and strengths. After all, every action you’ve ever taken since receiving your K-Genes have been documented carefully. Shall I recite them?” Coach Jaguar chuckled.

Coach Jaguar then took the class to an off putting orb-shaped building on the west side of campus. The inside was pure white and had hundreds of smaller orb compartments inside. Negi had never seen anything like it.

“This place is called the Genetic Maximizer, meant to help late bloomers come out of their shell and further obtain mutations to better themselves. I brought you here first because there is a student among you who has not manifested all of their features.” Coach Jaguar explained, making all of them simultaneously look at Negi causing him to flinch.

“ _ Totally wasn’t singled out… _ ”

“ **All Jet Jaguars try to give everyone a fair chance, making changes and alterations to plans based on individual needs. It’s part of their programming, so you learn to get used to it.** ” Godzilla’s voice echoed in his head.

“Come, Miyamoto, and enter this pod.” Coach Jaguar instructed, flipping the lid open on one.

Nervous, Negi crept inside where the door slammed shut on him. Something then jabbed the back of his neck making him pass out on the reclined seat before him. He was unconscious, yet his eyes opened to reveal him someplace else. It was a long black brick hallway with a red carpet on the floor. Symmetrically along the left wall were statues of varying Godzilla shapes. Picking himself up, he began to walk along the hall. Two of the statues were obliterated leaving only the ankles on their pedestals, one marked “Zilla” and the other “Shin”.

“Where am I…?” he pondered, reaching the end of the hall where two large white doors awaited him.

“ **Do not enter that door.** ” a cold booming voice commanded when he tried to touch the handles.

“Who said that?!” he gasped, looking around.

“ **This world will be mine. You have no claim to that power.** ” the voice snarled, drawing his attention out the window to the black silhouette of Ghidora’s three heads glaring at him.

The red light emanating from his eyes was too much for Negi, causing him to lose consciousness and wake up in the real world. Disoriented, his vision was shaky as indistinct voices called to him. After an undetermined number of minutes he snapped out of it to find Gojira trying to get his attention.

“You okay?” she asked him.

“What happened…?” was all he could reply with.

“It plugged you in, your spines came out, and then the pod got slapped with a system error. None of the overrides worked so Gojira-chan tore the door off with her bare hands. We suspect a faulty pod, but Godzilla suspects interference.” Coach Jaguar explained, kneeling to Negi’s left.

 “I was… in a hallway with Godzilla statues… I saw Ghidorah outside the windows. That’s when I woke up here.” Negi told them.

“You saw the Hall of Kings? That means the machine was working properly up until you tried to open the door. The Mutation Tree, the mental representation of your body’s genetic structure, is behind it. I planned to show it to you and explain using it later today, but you should take it easy after a forced exit.” Gojira explained.

“Who are Zilla and Shin…?” Negi asked her.

“We don’t talk about them.” she quickly replied.

Negi was then taken to the infirmary to be checked out for any lasting effects. The campus doctor was completely human surprisingly, though she looked a bit young to be a school practitioner. Her long wavy black hair paired with her calm and collected demeanor made her alluring to the eye. Negi couldn’t help but stare a little as she examined the readings on the medical equipment.

“Doctor Erina Serizawa is related to Gojira-san, her younger sister, just so you know.” Nagisa spoke, startling Negi with the realization that she’d been sitting by him the whole time.

“H-How long have you been there…?” he asked, trying to keep his heart from exploding.

“About three minutes. Coach Jaguar asked me to check up on you.” she replied.

“Can I ask that you do not accelerate his heart rate, Shishio-san? I am trying to get accurate readings on his vitals.” Dr. Serizawa asked her.

“My apologies, doctor.” she replied, bowing slightly.

“Are you… really Gojira-san’s sister?” Negi couldn’t help asking.

“Yes, younger by four years. Kyoko was different from our father and grandfather in that she was born with the Gojira Gene already implanted within her. Everyone in our line before her had to be implanted after Gojira evaluated them. She let it go to her head as a child, but she’s become mature these days. All I can do is lend my medical expertise, as Gojira found me unsuitable to receive the gene.” she replied, giving some insight on Gojira in the process.

“Wait, Serizawa…? As in Serizawa Industries? The ones who made the Oxygen Destroyer?” Negi questioned.

“The same, though we have long since shifted our focus from killing Gojira to helping him instead.” she replied, checking his vital signs on a machine.

“How do his life signs look?” Nagisa asked her.

“Well, aside from some minor mental trauma he looks fine as far as my machines can tell. I want you to take these mental supplements for the next three days to ensure smooth recovery, two when you wake up and two before bed. Be aware that they may cause some drowsiness. Return the bottle and any remaining pills to me on the fourth day.” Dr. Serizawa ordered, handing Negi a red pill bottle with small blue tic-tac sized pills inside.

“Will do.” Negi nodded, smiling sheepishly.

When Negi left the infirmary he flinched seeing Viktor leaning against the wall, his expression still an intimidating half-glare. Standing up, Viktor was a startling 6’4. Negi tried to slip away when Viktor grabbed his shoulder. His entire body felt cold anticipating what was about to happen.

“I’m saying this now. You have no right to stand among us. Fakes like you won’t stop the empire for good. Only those truly chosen by the titans have a chance at it.” Viktor stated coldly, releasing Negi’s should after.

Negi had absolutely no comebacks to that. Viktor struck at what Negi had been afraid of in regards to his legitimacy as a K-Gene Bearer. That those given it willingly or born with it would consider him a fake, or that he didn’t deserve the power. Viktor’s words stuck with him well after classes were over. On the bus back to the city he felt like crying, but didn’t want to cause a scene. When he got off, his storm cloud was interrupted by a hand landing on his shoulder. Standing in front of him was Yuki, wearing a high school uniform of her own.

“There you are. Gojira-san told me I’d find you if I waited here long enough.” Yuki beamed.

“Yuki…” he spoke, stunned by her presence.

“Come on, it’s karaoke night. You usually never miss, and everyone misses your enthusiastic singing.” Yuki giggled.

“I… well…”

“Negi. You really look like you need to let your voice out. I know it won’t be easy to get their trust.” Yuki spoke, making his eyes get wide.

“H-How do you…?”

“I’ve known you for years, Negi. I can tell when you’re scared of something or when something’s got you upset. Everyone knew as soon as you got a gene that the people who’ve had it for years won’t take kindly to you suddenly getting special treatment. They don’t even care that it’s  _ because _ you lack control that you need expert help. You don’t have to shoulder the stress yourself. That’s what friends are for.” Yuki explained to him, her usual genuine smile plastered on her face.

“Thanks, Yuki.” Negi told her, finally managing to crack a slight smile.

So much had happened that he totally forgot that he had friends outside of school. He couldn’t rely on Gojira-san to always be there to give him the confidence he needs. That’s what friends were for. Negi went with Yuki to karaoke that day and sang his heart out until it was dark out. It had been ages since he had hung out with Yuki and his other friends from middle school. He definitely felt better when he got home, even if the anxiety still lingered a bit. Looking in the mirror that night, he decided what he was going to do.

“I’ll work even harder… and make Viktor eat his words.” Negi affirmed to himself.


End file.
